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Country Close-Up

Country Close-Up - mixes fresh air with fun in the farmyard, windmills, wildlife rescue, a maize maze and all sorts of traditional pleasures that get right to the roots of rural England.

There so much to do... to make it easier to explore it's been divided into two special sections:

Animal Crazy
Rural Life

ANIMAL CRAZY

Places to visit:

If you would like to make some furry friends then Buckinghamshire is the place to come. Great places to meet farmyard favourites and enjoy some hands-on fun include:
Bucks Goats Centre at Stoke Mandeville
Chiltern Open Air Museum at Chalfont St Giles
The Horse Trust at Lacey Green
Mead Open Farm at Billington, Nr Leighton Buzzard
Odds Farm Park at Wooburn Common
Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital at Haddenham

Or if you fancy seeing some more exotic species venture out to:
Whipsnade Wild Animal Park
Woburn Safari Park

Alternatively for those with an interest in all creatures great, small or even extinct try:
The Natural History Museum at Tring

Where can we get food and drinks?

Wood End Cafe at the Chiltern Open Air Museum
Safari Restaurant at Woburn Safari Park
Cafe on the Lake or Lookout Cafe at Whipsnade Zoo

Both Odds Farm Park and Mead Open Farm have tea rooms and there are several good pubs and restaurants in Tring. The Pink and Lily PH at Lacey Green, a regular haunt of the war poet Rupert Brooke is ideal for lunch or just a few miles away is the small market town of Princes Risborough.

RURAL LIFE

Places to visit:

Museums

The towns and villages of Buckinghamshire have been famous over the years for a variety of skilled trades and cottage industries. The best places to learn about the lives and work of our ancestors it at one of the wonderful Family Friendly Museums: Buckingham Old Gaol Museum
Amersham Museum
Buckinghamshire County Museum at Aylesbury
Chesham Museum
Chiltern Open Air Museum at Chalfont St Giles
Milton Keynes Museum

Wind & Water Mills

A striking sign of industry in the area are the wind and water mills that are scattered across the County. The mills are open to the public periodly and the best time to visit is on National Open Mill Day, which falls on the Sunday 13th May in 2007.
Brill Windmill
Ford End Watermill at Ivinghoe
Lacey Green Windmill
Pann Mill at High Wycombe
Pitstone Windmill

Trains & Railways

Is there a railway enthusiast in your family? To experience rail travel from bygone times there is either the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway to ride or the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quinton to explore.

Or if you fancy a field based challenge the Lacey Green Maize Maze is certainly worth a visit.

Where can we get food and drinks?

Wood End Cafe at the Chiltern Open Air Museum
Granary Tea Room at Milton Keynes Museum

Both the market towns of Amersham and Chesham are well served for cafes, pubs and restaurants and refreshments are also available at the Maize Maze in Lacey Green.